Font anti-aliasing on Windows 7

I am having trouble obtaining anti-aliasing in Windows 7 when rendering text

Both
`painter.setRenderHint(QPainter::Antialiasing)`
and
`font.setStyleStrategy(QFont::PreferAntialias)` are ineffective.

However, anti-aliasing works when turning on "ClearType" and "smooth edges" system-wise

• Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Adjust ClearType text > Enable "Turn on CrearType".
• Start Menu > Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows" or from Computer >
  System Properties > Windows Experience Index (link) > Adjust visual effects (left sidebar) >
  Enable "Smooth edges of screen fonts"

There does not seem to be a simple way to forcibly enable anti-aliasing when drawing text, when those settings are unset.
It works perfectly on Linux.